Willis ii



(No Model.)

W. H. BACON. FISHING ROD BUTT.

No. 583,016. Patented May 25,1897.

:ILE

WITNESEE.

UNITED STATES P TENT rricn,

\VILLIS H. BACON, OF BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE HORTON MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

FISHING-ROD BUTT.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 583,016, dated May 25, 1897.

Application filed August 7, 1895. Serial No. 558,568. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ILLIS I-l. BACON, of Bristol, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fishing-Rod Butts, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has relation to fishing-rods employing a reel; and it has for its objects the provision of a construction which will enable the butt to be reversed, so as to bring the reel either above or below the grip or hand-grasp, as may be desired or as circumstances may suggest, and at the same time to provide means for efficiently adjusting and supporting the rod in either end of the butt and closing the free end to provide a neat finish and to keep out dust and dirt and otherwise protect the same.

To these ends the invention consists of a fishing-rod butt provided with a suitable grip or hand-grasp, means for attaching the reel to the butt adjacent. to the grip or hand-grasp, means, coincident as to construction, at each end of the butt for attaching the rod thereto,

so as to bring the reel either above or below the grip to suit circumstances, a closed cap adapted to be screwed upon either end of the butt, and an open-end ferrule also adapted to be screwed upon either end of the butt to the end of making the latter reversible.

The invention also consists of other improvements incidental to those hereinbefore recited, all as I will now proceed to describe and claim.

Reference is to be had to the annexed drawings, and to the letters marked thereon, forming a part of this specification, the same letters designating the same parts or features, as the case may be, wherever they occur.

Of the drawings, Figure 1 is plan view of a fishing-rod connected with a butt embodyin g myimprovements, the butt being adjusted so that the reel is in position above the grip or hand-grasp. Fig. 2 is a similar view, the butt being adjusted so as to bring the reel below the grip or hand-grasp. Fig. 3 is a plan view drawn to an enlarged scale, a portion of the butt being represented in section to the better illustrate its structural character, only 'a part of the rod directly connected with the butt being represented.

In carrying out my invention I provide a butt aof such form and material as may best be suited to the purpose or as may be desired 5 5 by particular persons, and form in each end thereof a cylindrical socket b b, which sockets are the same in form and structure.

In the drawings, the sockets b are shown as extending from the ends into the butt to the points c, though it is obvious, as will presently appear, that a hole or bore of uniform diameter may be made through the entire butt.

The sockets h, from the tip to a suitable point inward, as at the points cl (1, are provided with a bushing or tube f, forced into the butt, so as to form a durable and serviceable lining to the socket. A cap g is secured in any suitable way upon each end of the butt, so as to constitute a ferrule thereon. The said caps 9 may be of similar form or may differ in structure, as circumstances or the necessities of the case may suggest. In the present case the ferrule g, upon one end of the butt, is extended, as at g, so as to form means for assisting in the attachment of the reel h, which is provided with a base '6, one end of which base may be slipped under a clip formed upon or constituting a portion of the extended part g of the ferrule g and the other end of the base i secured to the butt by means of a ring j, slipped thereover. An additional ferrule or tube 9 may be secured upon the butt beyond the grip at the point upon which the reel is secured to the butt.

The outer end of each ferrule g is screwthreaded, as at 9 so as to receive thereon either the closed cap it or the open-ended ferrule Z, the closed cap 70 being screwed upon the *free end of the butt and the open-ended 9o ferrule Z screwed upon the opposite end,

through which the rod m is inserted into the socket b.

The open-end furrule Z extends beyond the cap g, upon which it is adjusted, and is tapered in form in its extended part, which gives it a neat finish and at the same time may afford an additional support to the base of the rod beyond the butt proper, as is shown at Z in Fig. 2.

Both of the ferrules g and Z are made of sheet metal and are independent of any other parts of the butt when detached, and, as intimated, each is adapted to be screwed upon either end of the butt.

The base I) of the rod in that part which enters the socket b is made cylindrical in form, though the rod may be tapering in form beyond the part Z). The form of the socket b conforms to that of the base Z) of the rod, so that the latter maybe frictionally held in the said socket.

n designates the grip or hand-grasp, which is formed on the butt substantially at one end thereof, the portion of the butt beyond the handle being adapted, as has hereinbefore been explained, for the reception of the reel.

In the use of fishing-rods it sometimes happens, by reason of the taste or inclination of the fisherman or from the character of the fishing or different methods of casting for fish, that it is desirable to adjust the butt so as to bring the reel either above or below the grip or hand-grasp, and, as has already been made apparent, the present invention is adapted to that purpose. If it is desired to bring the reel above the grip n, the rod will be adjusted in the butt, as shown in Fig. 1, with the open-end ferrule Z beyond the reel and the closed cap 7.: screwed upon the free end, upon which the grip is formed. \Vhen, however, it is desired to reverse the butt, the rod m will be removed, the open-end ferrule [and cap 75 taken 01f, the butt reversed in position, and the rod adjusted upon the end upon which the handle is formed, the ferrule Z being screwed upon that end of the butt and the closed cap on the free end below the reel, as shown in Fig. 2. By this means an entirely efficient, durable, and readily-manipulated fishing-rod butt is provided, and one in which all dust and dirt is excluded from the rod-sockets when the handle is in use. The base of the rod is readily adjusted in and removed from useful position and is securely held in place when adjusted.

Having thus explained the nature of the invention and explained a way of constructing and using the same, though without attempting to set forth all of the forms in which it may be made or all of the modes of its use, it is declared that what is claimed is-- The combination in a fishing-rod of a reversible fishing-rod butt, having like cylindrical sockets at each end, a grip or handgrasp and means adjacent to the grip and at a point beyond the same .for the attachment of the reel, said butt being provided with a closed cap screwed upon the free end of the ferrule so as to close the socket therein, and a tapered open ferrule screwed upon the other end, the cap and ferrule being adapted to be reversed in position, with the metal tapering section of the rod provided with a cylindrical butt to fit either cylindrical socket, and making a close joint with the tapering ferrule, so that the butt may be readily reversed and the reel brought either below or above the hand and the ends be protected, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 23d day of May, A. D. 1895.

\VILLIS ll. BACON.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR W. CRossLE'Y, JoHN J. JENNINGS. 

